Well folks, it has happened. I have officially turned marathon years old. It’s my birffffdayyyy!

See, even my new workout toy knows it’s my birthday!

In honor of turning marathon years old, a little while back I asked my Twitter peeps if that means I HAVE to do a full marathon this year (it would be my very first one). The overwhelming answer was somewhere along the lines of:

Hell freaking yeah!!!!

I am still toying around with the idea, but the full distance still terrifies the ever lovin’ shoot out of me. Maybe that could be what this year is about… Stepping out of my comfort zone, challenging myself, and trying new things. I like the way that sounds.

Hubs and I are heading to baycayshun on the Oregon coast for the weekend. It will be a MUCH needed weekend away from work email, computers, and all things stressful. On top of that, I fully intend to have a little drink in my hand 99% of our time there.

Retro birthday pic! This was me and hubs on my birthday 6 years ago!

Anywhooo, I’ll have lots of awesome pics to share come Monday. Until then, over and out.

P.S. WINNER OF THE FROG FUEL IS:

Congrats, Adrian! Send me an email (skippinginseattle@gmail.com) with your address and we’ll get your goodies shipped out to you!

P.P.S. Good luck to everyone running Hood to Coast and Iron Man Canada this weekend. Have a blast, and kick ass!

Monday was Weigh in Monday for Weight Watchers. I was so nervous this week because I so desperately wanted to hit that 5 pound weight loss marker. I had a couple cheat days last week so I knew my chances of hitting it were slim. Apparently hitting all my planned workouts helped because I was down another 1.6 pounds babyyyyy! Total weight lost so far? 6.2 pounds and feeling like a million bucks.

*****************************************
I was contacted a little bit ago by someone at Frog Fuel to try their protein shots. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical. I was anticipating the consistency of Gu which, to be totally honest, makes me wanna barf. But, I decided to strap my big girl rundies on and give it a try.

The verdict? SO much better than I was anticipating. The consistency is more like a liquid than a gel so it goes down nice and easy. I really enjoyed the smooth consistency. The flavor I tried was Berry with caffeine. I could definitely taste that flavor that products with caffeine tend to have. It’s not necessarily unpleasant, but an acquired taste. I taste the same thing in my beloved watermelon caffeine enhanced Sport Beans. Caffeine not your thing? Don’t worry, they also make a non caffeinated version!!

So, what what is Frog Fuel’s shtick?
1. It was developed by Navy Seals!
2. It’s hydrolyzed. What that means for us is faster absorption which means better performance and quicker recovery!
3. It’s a Pure Collagen Protein. That means it can improve skin, muscle mass and tone, increase joint flexibility, healthier bones, arteries, hair, nails and eyes. Uhm, you had me at “improve skin.”
4. It contains Taurine which helps rebuild muscles faster!
5. You can toss it in your go bag.

1. Last night, I had the most epically awesome run in this history of runs. It was a short 30 minute tempo run but I felt amazing the whole time!

It wasn’t my fastest, but I felt STRONG. I got to my cool down and had no desire to cool down so I kept going until my time was up. Runs like those keep you coming back for more.

2. I went to FlyWheel on Wednesday for the first time in a long time. It’s official. I need more FlyWheel in my life. It is the best spin workout I have ever gotten and I have been to a lot of spin places. They make it fun and challenge you and best of all… MOTIVATE you to be the best you can be. I’m not affiliated with FlyWheel at all, I just truly love going. I highly recommend seeing if there is one in your area. Your first class is FREE!

3. Wednesday was Mariners baseball game day at work! In lieu of a summer BBQ, my company decided to give us all a half day off and take us to the ball game.

It. Was. Awesome.

It was my first time at Safeco Field. What a nice ball park! At one point, I even got to get within 5 feet of a catcher practicing in the bullpen!

4. This weekend, we have hubs company summer party and a wine tasting party to go to! The wine tasting party is really just an excuse to get together with our friends. We used to select a region and everyone brought a bottle of wine from that region for everyone to sample. We got to sample some amazing wines this way. This time, however, we are saying ‘screw it’ and everyone is just bringing their favorite bottle. It should be a good time either way!

Yesterday was weigh in Monday! Normally, I would dread this day, but I have been making such good eating decisions that I was actually looking forward to it. The verdict after two weeks of weight watchers?

Down another 2.2 pounds baby! That is 4.6 total so far!

Even better than the numbers? Yesterday I wore jeans to work that were so uncomfortably tight on me two weeks ago and they were COMFY again! Hellll ya! I’m so excited for next week’s weigh in. I so desperately want to hit that 5 pound mark.

So, I’m pretty sure hell froze over. This morning, I got up early and ran BEFORE work. I had nearly 4 miles done before 7 am.

Seeing as I normally run at about 10 pm, this is pretty major. I feel like this opened up a whole new world. It means I got to run in 65 degree temps instead of 80+ degrees.

I still feel like such a weather wimp complaining about running in 80 degree temps. Hell, I’m from SoCal! 80 degree days were my winters for crying out loud! I swear it is a different kind of heat in Seattle though. It hits 80 and we are begging for some AC.

Yep. I’m officially a weather wimp.

As I mentioned on Friday, hubs and I went to the Zoo this weekend and I got to feed an elephant!!

It was so cool getting to be so close to such an amazing animal. Hubs got a shot of me feeding her that I will have to post once he uploads his pics!

We plan to go back to the zoo because we didn’t have time to explore everything that we wanted to. Next time I plan on feeding the giraffes! I will stay farrrr away from feeding the birds though. Those things scare the shit out of me. No joke.

We also went to Kerry Park which has my absolute favorite view of the Seattle skyline.

Hubs and I decided we suck at making hand hearts. Hubs says it’s because his hands are so manly… Yeah. We love that man.

What is your most irrational fear? Mine has to be birds and fish. I’m talkin snorkeling on top of a hot pink inner tube in Hawaii kind of scared. So ridic!

1. Normally Friday is always my rest day. I come home, eat pizza, drink beer, and say cheers to kickin another work week’s booty. I sit on my lazy ass and enjoy every second of it. My new training plan has something different in mind. I have a moderate effort cross training plan in the books. SOOO prior to enjoying my splurge eating night, I biked 7.4 miles in 30 minutes.

The verdict? I actually loved it. It woke me from my Friday night work week coma that I tend to find myself in. This could be a very good thing.

2. Tomorrow, hubs and I are going to the Woodland Park Zoo! We have lived in Seattle for 2 1/2 years and are just now exploring all these landmarks. I love it! It is all inspired by his latest photography hobby! I’m most excited about feeding the elephants!!!

3. I have 5 miles on tap for Saturday too. I’m still deciding whether to wake up early and knock it out or if I should do it Saturday night. Knowing me, I’ll end up doing it Saturday night. Mornings and I don’t get along.

4. I am still kicking ass on Weight Watchers. With the exception of my pizza tonight, I have been spot on and eating healthier than I have in years. I gotta say, it feels freaking good. I weigh in on Monday, so I’ll report the stats then. Honestly though, even if I end up gaining weight, I won’t care because I’m finally feeling good again. I still have a lot of work but I feel a difference and that’s all that matters to me.

[Biggest blackberry of my life]

5. I mentioned this on Twitter, but I think I’m officially a Brooks running shoe convert. I’ll post all about it soon. I wanted to get some miles under my belt first before I did. I’m seriously in love though. They feel so good and my bum knee is so happy in them.

Tuesdays workout:Scheduled: 45-1hr on the bikeCompleted: 11 miles and 47 minutes on the bike.

Wednesdays workout:Scheduled: 40 minute workout. 10 minute warm up, 20 minutes at 15 second faster pace. 4×20 second sprints with slow jog in between.Completed: 3.57 miles in 40 minutes.
I did a 3 minute walk and 7 minute warm up run at 11:19 pace. Then I sped up for the next 20 minutes to a 10:55-10:45 pace. Then I did my sprints at an 8:34 pace.
In retrospect, I probably could have done the sprints faster, but at the end of my workout, they were pretty damn brutal. I did my slow recovery at 12:00 pace.

Last weekend, hubs and I took a day off of work so we could celebrate his birthday in style at the Salish Lodge that sits right on top of Snoqualmie Falls.

Hubs has been super into photography lately so I surprised him with the trip. It gave him SO many interesting things to snap pictures of.

None of these pictures are his. I snagged some with my super duper high quality iPhone camera. In case you couldn’t tell, that last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. Luckily there’s an app to cure my crappy photo blues. Apply a filter to anything and it automatically becomes awesome.

After having some pretty awesome photo shoots, we went back to our room, cleaned ourselves up, and began my favorite part: eating and drinking. I completely over indulged but it was SO worth it.

After dinner, we headed back to check out the falls. They shine spot lights on the water at night that seriously gives it this magical effect.

My pictures don’t do it justice. If you find yourself in the area, I highly recommend stopping by and taking a look at the falls. It’s no Niagara, but it’s a great PNW find.

I went back and forth with whether to talk about this or not, but I’ve never been one to hold back. So, why the hell not…

I started Weight Watchers a little over a week ago.

There. I said it. That makes it real.

Don’t worry. I’m not delusional. I don’t think I’m fat by any means. Honestly, here’s what happened. I weighed myself. Yep. That’s all it too for me to snap out of my poor eating decisions.

I truthfully wouldn’t care what the scale said if I felt good, but I have been feeling like a freaking slob kabob all the time. Seriously. I’m a freaking sloth. It’s awful. I couldn’t figure out what my deal was, so I weighed myself. Usually my weight is pretty damn indicative of my “healthy living” choices… Or lack thereof. I kid you not, when I stepped on that scale, I was three pounds away from my highest weight ever. No freaking wonder I feel gross all the time!

So, I decided to take action! I started weight watchers. It is less about losing weight and more about realizing what I am putting in my body. I love that you don’t count calories with WW too. Your body needs calories to thrive, so why restrict your body of what it needs?! Instead, I am paying attention to the quality of food I am consuming. It’s something I should always be mindful of, but it can be really hard. I love me some pizza and burgers and beer and margs. Yep. That spells trouble.

I had my first weigh in today after being on WW for one week. Verdict? I am down 2.6 pounds. Not too shabby. I definitely splurged a little this weekend too since we were celebrating hubs birthday. I love that WW allowed me to do that without that lingering guilt. This is the first time I have ever done a real dieting program, but I have to say that I’m lovin it.

Something else fantastic? I started my speedwork training plan today! On tap for today was 30 minutes at an easy pace. I ran 2.55 miles in 30 minutes. While the pace was easy, my sweat was no joke.

I’m usually not much of a sweater. My face gets bright red, but I just don’t sweat much. This workout was a different story. I was sweatin’ up a storm! Like, slip n slide status.